Announcement • Apr 30
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. Reports Final Drill Results from Rowan Project
West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. announced final drill results from its recently completed infill and conversion drilling program at the 100% owned Rowan Project located in the Red Lake Mining District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The 2025-2026 Rowan drilling program exceeded expectations, successfully de-risking the vein system while demonstrating upside within areas of the deposit with limited drilling and/or discontinuous historic data. Notably, the best intercept of the program is included in this final round of results with 471 grams per tonne gold over 1 metre from Vein 013. The new drilling has been incorporated into an updated vein model with a revised Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) to be completed over the coming weeks. The results featured in this news release are focused on the high-grade Rowan vein system and are in addition to the intercepts recently announced on March 31, 2026 which highlighted 19.83 grams per tonne (“g/t”) gold (“Au”) over 1.62 metres (“m”), 30.59 g/t Au over 1m and 41.5 g/t Au over 0.5m, and on February 18, 2026 which highlighted 84.3 g/t Au over 1m, 14.4 g/t Au over 5.5m and 24.4 g/t Au over 1.5m, and on January 29, 2026 which highlighted 141.5 g/t Au over 1m, 55.8 g/t Au over 1m and 28.5 g/t Au over 1m. A total of thirty-seven (37) holes for approximately 6,300m were completed at Rowan in the current drilling program. All assays have been received and reported. Internal dilution for composite intervals does not exceed 1m for samples grading. Mineral resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 3.80 g/t Au and a gold price of USD 1,800/oz. ROWAN PROGRAM SUMMARY West Red Lake Gold announced results for a Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) for the Rowan Project on July 8, 2025 which demonstrates positive preliminary economics for an underground mine at Rowan producing an average of 35,230 ounces (“oz”) per year over a 5-year mine life at an average grade of 8.0 g/t Au. The 2025-2026 drill program at Rowan totaled 6,300m of HQ diameter diamond drilling including conversion drilling on Veins 001 and 004 to support the potential upgrade of Inferred resources to Indicated and infill drilling on Veins 006b and 013 to provide data that may enable mine design consideration ahead of a planned combined Pre-Feasibility Study (“PFS”) for the Madsen Mine and Rowan Project. It is anticipated that this study could evaluate the potential for developing the two projects using shared infrastructure and integrated mine planning, with the goal of identifying possible operational and economic synergies. Conversion drilling at Rowan is focused on Veins 001 and 004, with the objective to bring Inferred resources to an Indicated category. These veins account for the majority of PEA production tonnes. Approximately 63% of the tonnes and 72% of the ounces were already in the Indicated category in the Rowan PEA. Infill drilling is focused on Veins 006b and 013 to provide data for potential inclusion in the planned combined PFS. Integration of Veins 006b and 013 could not only extend mine life at Rowan, but may also allow for ore extraction to begin approximately 6 months sooner due to closer proximity to the access portal. Accessing and mining mineralization earlier at Rowan has the potential to positively impact the net present value (“NPV”) of the project. Inclusion of Veins 006b and 013 in future mine plans and the impact of such inclusion is subject to the results of the drill program and the outcome of the combined PFS as reviewed by a Qualified Person. Further geotechnical, metallurgical and engineering studies are also underway at Rowan to inform the planned PFS and to substantiate whether or not the Company will release a combined PFS. These studies will be completed in conjunction with ongoing permitting efforts to advance Rowan towards Advanced Exploration status, which is required for bulk sample extraction. Permits to support Advanced Exploration activities, including underground mine development, are targeted for 2027, subject to regulatory review and consultation. The Advanced Exploration permit is targeted for approval in 2027, a timeline supported by the recent launch of the One Project, One Process mine permitting framework in Ontario that aims to cut review times within the mine permitting process in half for Designated Projects, a status the Company is pursuing at Rowan. ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES There are multiple opportunities to potentially expand and upgrade the resource and mine plan at Rowan. The Rowan resource comprises 26 domains that capture multiple parallel veins. Three of those veins – 001, 003 and 004 – are mined in the PEA. A fourth vein with strong gold grades, called 006b, is the third largest contributor of tonnes and ounces in the current MRE but was not included in the PEA mine plan because its data stems largely from historic drilling, which suffers from unsampled intervals. Vein 013 runs adjacent and sub-parallel to Vein 006b and may demonstrate similar resource upgrade potential, subject to confirmation drilling and subsequent resource estimation by a Qualified Person. Historic operators often only sampled and assayed drill core with quartz veining containing visible gold. Surrounding rock, including vein margins, narrow gaps between veins, and adjacent wall rock, was typically not sampled. During the MRE estimation process those unsampled intervals were assigned a value of half detection limit equal to 0.0025 g/t Au. This excessively diluted those areas in the resource model, which was constructed on 2m minimum composites for longhole stoping design consideration. During the 2023 drill campaign, WRLG demonstrated that gold mineralization regularly persists into the altered wall rock adjacent to high-grade gold veins. Selective sampling would have missed mineralization of this type. Additionally, most of the drilling on Veins 006b and 013 is from the 1980’s utilizing very small 27-millimeter diameter AQ drill core with no existing competent historic core available for resampling. The 2025-2026 drilling program is being completed with 63.5-millimeter diameter HQ drill core and with an aim to infill the gaps in the historic analytical data set on Veins 006b and 013, with the goal of bringing these veins back into consideration for mine design. The next layer of opportunity at Rowan is based on expanding the deposit. Notably, the highest-grade intercept ever drilled at Rowan was achieved during the 2023 drill campaign when hole RLG-23-163B returned 70.8 g/t Au over 8.3 metres. This intercept came from the deeper portion of Vein 001 and indicates potential for mineralization to continue at depth. .
